The communications environment has changed rapidly throughout the last decade. While traditional telephone service, i.e., a wired communication device, is still being used widely, several other types of communication devices are currently available. For example, cellular phones (i.e., wireless communication devices) have opened a new era of communication freeing people from geographical limitations associated with a wired telephone. The Internet, and, more particularly, e-mail has also revolutionized communications.
Thus, it is not unusual today for a person to be associated with several different types of communication devices simultaneously. For example, a person, using a telephone at home, may also have a cellular phone. In addition, the person may have an e-mail address on the Internet. Therefore, it is often not easy to reach a person at a specific one of the many communication devices with which he is associated. All of the communication devices with which a called party is associated may not be known. Even when this information is known, it is very cumbersome to have to try each of the communication devices in an attempt to reach the called party.
There have been methods to find the presence of a user within a limited network environment. For example, if a user is “on-line” using a PC and modem, this information can be used by an Internet Call Waiting (ICW) service to provide the user with notification of an incoming call through the PC. Similarly, if a user has turned on or off his cellular phone, the wireless network can provide the status of the user's cellular phone to other users of the network. In addition, the on/off status of a set-top box at a user's home can also provide an indication that the user may be at home watching TV.